


Definitions

by tifaching



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, Smart Dean Winchester, Weechesters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 18:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/726390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tifaching/pseuds/tifaching
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean's got to make things right with Pastor Jim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Definitions

“We’re not supposed to be in here, Dean,” Sam whispered.

“Don’t be such a girl, Sammy. We’re just looking. I want to see what kind of stuff Pastor Jim got donated to give to his poor people.”

“They’re not _his_ poor people, Dean. They’re just people in his church who need things that he’s trying to get for them. Things he told us not to touch.”

“Lighten up Samantha, it’s not like we’re going to break anything. Holy shit, would you look at this?”

“Don’t swear in church, Dean!” Sam’s whisper was emphatic, but his brother was unimpressed.

“Why not? God gonna strike me dead, choirboy? Get over here and check this out.”

“No.” Sam hadn’t followed as his brother threaded his way between the neatly organized tables of donated items. “Pastor Jim’s gonna be mad.”

“Pastor Jim doesn’t get mad,” Dean replied dismissively, picking up a small radio from the table in front of him.

“Depends on the provocation,” said a grim voice from behind them and Dean whirled, dropping the radio to the floor. Jim’s eyes traveled from the scattered pieces of metal and plastic to Dean’s wide eyes. “I trusted you boys to do as I asked.”

“I did it, it wasn’t Sammy’s fault,“ Dean offered quickly. “And I can fix it, I know I can.”

“It’s going to need new parts, Dean. Parts that will cost money I don’t think you have. And that’s not really the point. I asked you to do something and you didn’t do it. It’s going to take some doing for you to redeem yourself, here.”

“Redeem myself? Is that where I tell you what I’ve done wrong and you tell me to say a few prayers? And then we’re okay?”

Jim almost smiled, but managed to restrain himself. “That’s forgiveness, Dean. And I give you my forgiveness. Redemption isn’t something anyone can give you. Redemption is something you have to earn. If you _can_ fix this radio so it can be donated, it will go a long way towards redeeming yourself with me.”

Dean nodded slowly. “I need to take it with me,” he said, gesturing to the broken radio. “Is that okay?”

“That’s fine,” Jim said, noting the unusually solemn look on Dean’s face. “You see if it can be repaired, find out what you need to do the job and figure out how you’re going to get the parts, or the money to pay for them. _Legally_ , Dean.”

“Of course, legally. Sheesh.” Dean’s expression started out as one of wounded innocence, then returned to somber. “I mean it, Pastor Jim.”

“Okay, then. And remember, you have to get this done before your father gets back. It’s a month before your summer break is over and you have to go back to school. Hopefully that will give you enough time. Now get going. And Sam?”

“Yes?”

“You’re not off the hook. You help your brother with his project, you hear?”

“Yes, sir.”

The boys carefully collected all the pieces of radio and took them to their room, where Dean set them out on a table. Sam watched carefully as Dean picked each part up and studied it. When Dean had separated the broken pieces from the merely displaced, both boys were relieved to find that very few would have to be replaced.

“Okay Sammy, here’s what we’re gonna do. You get a bag to put all the broken parts in and tomorrow we’ll take the bus downtown to Radio Shack and see what it’s gonna cost us to get new ones.”

 

The clerk at the Radio Shack studied the parts Dean laid on the counter and jotted down some information before disappearing into the back of the store. He returned a few minutes later with a handful of packages.

“You’re in luck, boys, we have everything you need. The lot’ll cost you around twelve bucks and I’ll even throw in instructions on how to fix it.”

“Twelve dollars?” Dean’s face fell at the price.

The clerk could see the dismay on the boys faces. “Um, look…if you wanted to bring it down, I could take a look at it. Maybe I could put it back together for you.”

“No.” Dean’s answer was firm. “This isn’t something anyone can do for me.”

“Dean can do it,” Sam piped up. “He can fix anything.”

“Shut up, squirt. Can’t fix it if we can’t afford the parts.” Dean swept his pieces off the counter and back into the bag, knocking the clerk’s empty soft drink bottle onto the floor with his elbow.

“Not a squirt,” Sam retorted. “I’m seven.” He picked up the bottle and looked at it. Dean sighed. Sammy read everything, even the writing on soda bottles. Sam looked up at the clerk. “What does this mean?”

“Means if you bring it back to the store, they give you five cents for the bottle.”

“Just this bottle?”

“No, any soda or beer bottle.”

“Are you going to bring it back?”

The clerk grinned. “Wasn’t planning on it. Help yourself, kid. In fact, I’ve got a few more you can have.” He pulled three more bottles out of the trash can and put them in a bag. “There you go, your first twenty cents.”

 

The woman behind the counter at the market smiled as Dean lined up the bottles he and Sam had collected. “You’re here to redeem all these?”

Dean looked at her in confusion. “They’re bottles. What do they need to be redeemed for?”

“You’re returning them for money?”

“Yes.”

“That’s redeeming them.”

Dean sighed. “Why can’t words just mean one thing?”

 

Dean turned the radio on before entering Jim’s study and setting it on his desk. “Sammy and I had to collect a lot of bottles, but we got the money legally.”

“You redeemed bottles to do this?”

“It was Sammy’s idea,” Dean grinned. “I redeemed them, and they redeemed me. Um..they did redeem me, didn’t they?”

“No, Dean,” Jim replied softly. “You did that all yourself.”


End file.
